1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to graphical imaging techniques and, in particular, to a system and method for enabling users to edit rendered graphical images.
2. Related Art
There are various devices (e.g., digital cameras, computer systems, etc.) that render images. These devices usually allow users to edit the rendered images by allowing the users to adjust certain editing parameters of the images being rendered. For example, a user is often allowed to provide inputs to control an image's color vividness, brightness, contrast, and/or other types of editing parameters.
Many users are, unfortunately, unfamiliar with the effects of changing many of the controllable editing parameters. Thus, a user may desire to improve the appearance of a rendered image but may be uncertain as to which of the editing parameters should be changed in order to achieve the desired effect. In such a case, the user may change one or more of the editing parameters via trial-and-error, observing the image to see if the image's appearance is more or less desirable. The user may then continue adjusting different editing parameters in an attempt to improve the appearance of the observed image.
It may take several iterations of editing parameter adjustments in order for the user to be satisfied with the appearance of the rendered image. In some instances, the user may be unable to set the editing parameters appropriately to achieve a desired effect. Thus, the process of adjusting the editing parameters can be a difficult and tedious task for many users, especially for users who are relatively unfamiliar with the effects of changing one or more of the editing parameters. Indeed, many users who are relatively unfamiliar with the effects of changing the editing parameters often refrain from any attempts to manipulate the editing parameters due to the burdens pertaining to current image enhancement techniques. Even if such users attempt to change the editing parameters in order to improve the appearance of the rendered image, such users may quickly become frustrated with the trial-and-error process of changing the editing parameters and, therefore, may quickly abandon any such attempt.
Some attempts have been made to make it easier for users to control how images are rendered. For example, in one conventional graphics system, the system presents multiple thumbnail versions of the same image to a user. Each version is displayed with different editing parameters (e.g., different color vividness, brightness, contrast, etc.) such that each image appears different. The user then selects the thumbnail image most preferred by the user, and the editing parameters corresponding to the selected thumbnail image are then used to display a full-size version of the image.
Such a graphics system makes it easier for a user to control how images are rendered, but the graphics system does very little to help the user to customize an image. In this regard, the user's alternatives are limited to the displayed thumbnail images, and the user may prefer the final image to appear differently than any of the alternatives presented by the graphics system. In such a situation, the user either selects one of the less desirable thumbnail versions or attempts to manually control the system's editing parameters thereby encountering some of the same problems previously described.